Urgent call to confirm the suspension of Azerbaijan’s PACE credentials
Ahead of the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, international human rights organisations urge the Assembly to confirm the suspension of Azerbaijan’s credentials and develop clear and measurable benchmarks for their restoration.
The statement highlights Azerbaijan’s escalating repression of civil society, independent media, and political dissent continues to violate the principles and values of the Council of Europe (CoE).
Since November 2023 and ahead of and after COP29 in November 2024, the Azerbaijani authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent, targeting civil society, journalists, and activists with politically motivated arrests on fabricated charges. Many of those arrested complain about ill-treatment in custody.
As the Campaign has underlined in its report “Azerbaijan’s Defiance: A Decade of Contempt for the Council of Europe”, PACE action is neecssary to push the Council of Europe as a whole to seriously address the unprecedented levels of repression in Azerbaijan.
Signatories
Campaign to End Repression in Azerbaijan
Committee to Protect Journalists
Freedom Now
Human Rights House Foundation
Human Rights Watch
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
International Partnership for Human Rights
Netherlands Helsinki Committee
Norwegian Helsinki Committee
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
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